Nissan Terrano unveil on August 20

The Renault-Nissan Alliance has yielded quite a lot of twins for the Indian market. The Micra-Pulse, the Sunny-Scala and the X-Trail-Koleos are cars that share platforms, and apart from sharing damn nearly everything, also share the same market space as their corresponding cousins. None of these cars have had quite the sort of impact either of these companies would've hoped for, but then came along Renault's Duster and took the compact SUV segment by the storm. Now, as expected, Nissan has come knocking at Renault's door to borrow it.

Nissan will now roll out its own take on the Duster, named the 'Terrano'. The Terrano, much like other platform-sharing mates, will be very similar in terms of specifications, but as is the rule of thumb for such shared cars, Nissan has given the car a new face. And we think it looks exactly like the Pathfinder's front-end. That's what the initial sketch suggests, and that's not a bad thing, for the Pathfinder is a decent-looking vehicle itself.

It should come as no surprise that the Terrano will also come with the same engine and gearbox options as its French cousin: a 1.6-litre, 102bhp petrol and a 1.5-litre diesel available in two states of tune - 84bhp & 109bhp, mated to a five-speed manual 'box.

Now, Nissan's products are always premium-priced, so we expect it to cost a fair chunk more than the Duster, but it might just get that extra little helping of gizmos to justify its positioning.

The Terrano is scheduled for a pre-Diwali launch, but Nissan will first unveil it in Mumbai on August 20. If the actual car will be different from this rather aggressive sketch is anybody's guess. The question is, will you be willing to shell out more for what is essentially a gussied-up Duster? Head over to the comments section and make yourselves heard, dotcommers.